Category: Pakistan

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Standard Lithium Ltd. (“Standard Lithium” or the “Company”) (TSXV: SLI) (NYSE.A: SLI) (FRA: S5L), an innovative technology and lithium project development company, has reached an agreement (the “Agreement”), dated February 23, 2022, with its strategic partner, LANXESS Corporation (“Lanxess”), that streamlines and expedites the plan for development of the first commercial lithium project in Arkansas, which is to be constructed at an operational Lanxess facility in El Dorado, Arkansas (the “Project”). Under the Agreement, Standard Lithium will control all development of the Project leading up to and including the completion of the Front End Engineering Design (“FEED”) study. Standard Lithium will hold, at a minimum, a 51% majority equity stake in the Project and may retain as much as 100% of the Project. The Company will also retain 100% ownership of its South West Arkansas Project, all its proprietary extraction technologies, relevant intellectual property and know-how.

Robert Mintak, CEO of Standard Lithium commented, “This agreement builds upon the successful working relationship that has been established between the companies. By entering into this Agreement, Standard Lithium takes ownership of the Project and its development timelines with a clear path towards delivering the first new commercial lithium production in the USA in over 50 years.¹ We have already begun the process of engaging and integrating the strategic team members to make this project a success.  With the recent investment from our largest shareholder, Koch Strategic Platforms, we are fully funded to complete all planned Project milestones leading to a Definitive Feasibility Study, which is expected to be completed in Q4 2022”.

Key Highlights:

• Standard Lithium will form an initially wholly-owned company (“Project Company”) that owns 100% of the Project during pre-FEED and FEED engineering studies (see news release dated January 20^th, 2022). The FEED engineering will be used to produce a NI43-101 Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) in Q4 2022;
• Lanxess will, via a series of commercial agreements, provide the brine supply for the Project, the Project site lease, and rights of way, infrastructure, and other services for the Project;
• Standard Lithium will provide a market fee-based license to the Project Company of its suite of intellectual property;
• Standard Lithium is able to utilize its intellectual property, extraction technology and know-how at its 100% owned South West Arkansas Project, certain other sites in Arkansas and at all project sites outside of Arkansas, and will maintain control and ownership over the future development of its IP portfolio; and,
• Lanxess is obliged to support development of the Project and upon completion of a DFS, has the option to acquire an equity interest in the Project Company of up to 49% and not less than 30%, at a price equal to a ratable share of SLL’s aggregate investment in the Project Company.

If Lanxess acquires an ownership interest:

• The parties will share the costs of financing construction of the Project on a ratable basis; and,
• Lanxess will have the right to acquire some, or all of the lithium carbonate off-take produced at the commercial plant at market-based terms less a handling fee.

If Lanxess does not acquire an ownership interest:

• Standard Lithium will own 100% of the Project including customary dividends, distribution, or similar rights;
• Standard Lithium can elicit bids from other interested parties to buy up to 49% of the Project Company; and,
• Lanxess will have the right to acquire some, or all of the lithium carbonate off-take produced at the commercial plant at a price of market minus up to 20%, to be agreed by Lanxess and Standard Lithium and taking into consideration several key commercial agreements (including the costs of brine supply and disposal for the Project, the Project site lease cost and rights of way, infrastructure, and other services for the Project).

The parties have also agreed that development of the second and third projects on the Lanxess properties will be on a joint basis and that the parties will perform the same roles using similar contractual structures as the first Project. Lanxess will also have the right to purchase the lithium carbonate off-take from the additional projects upon market-based terms to be agreed by Lanxess and Standard Lithium, taking into consideration other commercial agreements required for their development (e.g. site leases, brine supply/disposal etc.).

Advisors
Stifel Nicolas Canada Inc. acted as financial advisor to Standard Lithium during negotiation of this Agreement.

About Standard Lithium Ltd.
Standard Lithium is an innovative technology and lithium development company. The Company’s flagship project is located in southern Arkansas, where it is engaged in the testing and proving of the commercial viability of lithium extraction from over 150,000 acres of permitted brine operations. The Company operates its first-of-a-kind industrial-scale direct lithium extraction demonstration plant at Lanxess’s south plant facility in southern Arkansas. The demonstration plant utilizes the Company’s proprietary LiSTR technology to selectively extract lithium from Lanxess’s tail brine. The demonstration plant is being used for proof-of-concept and commercial feasibility studies. The scalable, environmentally friendly process eliminates the use of evaporation ponds, reduces processing time from months to hours and greatly increases the effective recovery of lithium. The Company is also pursuing the resource development of over 30,000 acres of separate brine leases located in southwest Arkansas, referred to as the South West Arkansas Lithium Project, and approximately 45,000 acres of mineral leases located in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California.

Standard Lithium is jointly listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and the NYSE American under the trading symbol “SLI”; and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol “S5L”. Please visit the Company’s website at http://www.standardlithium.com.

On behalf of the Board of Standard Lithium Ltd.
Robert Mintak, CEO & Director

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “target, “plan”, “forecast”, “may”, “schedule” and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to expected development of the Project and future phases, the timeline for completion of the DFS, negotiation of definitive documentation with Lanxess, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, regulatory or government requirements or approvals, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure, fluctuations in the market for lithium and its derivatives, changes in exploration costs and government regulation in Canada and the United States, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company’s current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

¹ See https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-lithium.pdf

For further information contact:

LHA Investor Relations
David Barnard
+1 415-433-3777
standardlithium@lhai.com
info@standardlithium.com
Twitter: @standardlithium
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/standard-lithium/

Zoom Contact Center sets new standards for customer service experiences through omnichannel, video-optimized interactions

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) announced Zoom Contact Center, an omnichannel contact center solution that is optimized for video and integrated right into the same Zoom experience. Now available, Zoom Contact Center, previously Zoom Video Engagement Center, combines unified communications and contact center capabilities with the useability of the Zoom platform. Zoom Contact Center supports customer service use cases and workflows using channels like video and voice, with SMS and webchat currently in beta.

The Zoom platform is powering the future of communications beyond meetings with unified communications, the Zoom Developer Platform, Zoom Events, and now Zoom Contact Center. These innovations – and there are many more – were created with the same level of scalability and simplicity that has made Zoom the trusted platform for more than a half-million businesses worldwide.

Innovation Through Video
Zoom Contact Center will have over 100 agent, supervisor, and contact center administrator features at launch. Future investments will include additional channels, CRM and workforce management integrations, and AI/ML to optimize agent productivity. At launch, Zoom Contact Center will extend traditional capabilities typically optimized for voice to provide a unique end customer experience through channels like video.

“Zoom understands the importance of bringing together UC and multichannel contact center into the same experience,” said Blair Pleasant of BCStrategies. “Zoom is known for great video, which is important for high-touch customer scenarios and internal use cases like IT help desk, employee helpline, and revenue-generating activities. But the fact that Zoom Contact Center supports routing, additional channels, and the agent functionality organizations need, means that Zoom Contact Center could become the modern contact center solution of choice.”

Enabling Connected Work From Anywhere
Contact center agents are frequently tied to physical contact center locations, and if able to work remotely, often still need to navigate multiple communications tools. Zoom Contact Center streamlines inefficiencies by bringing communications into one central hub. In addition to helping end customers with a rich agent experience, agents can collaborate with peers, supervisors, or other employees right in Zoom Chat and channels. Unified communications and contact center together empowers agents to be more productive from any location while feeling connected to the larger organization.

“Previously, contact center infrastructure was complex to deploy, expensive to operate, and time-intensive to upgrade. Zoom Contact Center was carefully designed to meet the needs of the modern agent and end customer, both of which expect a personalized, digital, and effective contact center experience,” said Oded Gal, Chief Product Officer of Zoom. “I am pleased to announce the general availability of Zoom Contact Center, building upon the reliable Zoom platform model and bringing the experiences our customers know and love to yet another industry.”

Ensuring Ease of Deployment and Use
Zoom Contact Center is simple for administrators to configure and deploy, including a graphical drag-and-drop IVR designer. Contact center administrators can easily create menus, greetings, and prompts right in the same Zoom Admin portal. Zoom Contact Center can also integrate chat and video into an existing digital presence, like a website, helping organizations have conversations with customers in the right context and at the right time.

“Our members trust us with their most privileged information, so when they need support, it is our responsibility to provide them with the expertise First Federal Credit Union is known for,” said Chris Neal, Senior Vice President Operations of First Federal Credit Union. “With Zoom Contact Center, our contact center supervisors have the ability to organize service representatives based on skills, so when a member reaches out, we can now route their inquiries directly to experts that are equipped to handle their unique needs. A process that would previously require multiple service representatives can now be accelerated and streamlined into a single conversation. We’ve seen our overall call time and pick-up time improve significantly as we provide more efficient resolution and a better experience for our members.”

Customer choice is an essential value of the Zoom platform. In addition to Zoom Contact Center, Zoom intends to maintain its valued existing contact center partnerships.

Zoom Contact Center is now available in the U.S. and CA, with more international availability coming later this year. To learn more about Zoom Contact Center, please visit the Zoom Contact Center page and read our blog.

About Zoom
Zoom is for you. Zoom is a space where you can connect to others, share ideas, make plans, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination. Our frictionless communications platform is the only one that started with video as its foundation, and we have set the standard for innovation ever since. That is why we are an intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises alike. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ: ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom.

Press Relations
Farshad Hashmatulla
Product PR Manager
press@zoom.us

Stewardship Approach Safeguards All Elements of Contract Breeding Services

RENSSELAER, N.Y., Feb. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Taconic Biosciences, a global leader in providing drug discovery animal model solutions, launched Cage+, a holistic, innovative approach to murine contract breeding services. Cage+ delivers complete stewardship of projects from start to finish, allowing investigators to focus on research with confidence that animal model supply is reliable, at the highest quality, and on budget.

Biomedical and pharmaceutical research has profoundly changed over the past two decades. Studies are more advanced and rapid-paced, compressing the time to produce experimental data required to support well-informed decisions. The novel animal models generated to support these advanced studies have become more complex and precise. Yet, while the contract research service industry has kept pace with biomedical research advancements, the contract breeding industry has remained largely unchanged since the early 1990s. Most providers continue to place the project planning and management burden on investigators, who have neither the time nor expertise to direct service providers on how best to design and manage scaled production of complex animal models.

Taconic’s Cage+ Colony Management Solutions closes the gap between biomedical research program demands and the antiquated approach offered by many contract breeding services. Cage+ employs a holistic approach, combining standard animal breeding and husbandry elements with comprehensive breeding design expertise, project-specific methodology to reduce animal welfare concerns, budget monitoring, and proactive project management and communication. Additionally, this all-encompassing program rapidly expands breeding production through expert-led embryology methods, delivers internationally harmonized animal health standards, and includes the eTACONIC^® web-based project management tool, providing users access to colony information 24/7.

Cage+ allows investigators to fully leverage proven expertise in complex model design and breeding to advance research programs. When coupled with Taconic’s Custom Model Generation Solutions, Cage+ Colony Management Solutions brings a comprehensive and seamless “design to management” service, allowing clients to leverage the most complex genetically engineered models from initial design through to scaled production of study cohorts.

“Researchers should demand better from contract breeding service providers, and this view is the driving factor behind our Cage+ stewardship-based approach to colony management solutions,” said Dr. John Couse, vice president, scientific services. “With Cage+, researchers will view Taconic as an extension of their team, leveraging the collaboration of scientists and experts. Our approach allows investigators to focus their time, energy, and resources on research while trusting their custom model animal development and production to Taconic.”

To learn more about how Cage+ can improve your colony management experience and outcomes, please call 1-888-TACONIC (1-888-822-6642) in the US, +45 70 23 04 05 in Europe, or email info@taconic.com.

About Taconic Biosciences, Inc. 
Taconic Biosciences is a fully-licensed, global leader in genetically engineered rodent models and services. Founded in 1952, Taconic provides the best animal solutions so that customers can acquire, custom-generate, breed, precondition, test, and distribute valuable research models worldwide. Specialists in genetically engineered mouse and rat models, microbiome, immuno-oncology mouse models, and integrated model design and breeding services, Taconic operates laboratories and breeding facilities in the US and Europe, maintains distributor relationships in Asia, and has global shipping capabilities to provide animal models almost anywhere in the world.

Media Contact: 
Aidan Bouchelle
Associate Director, Marketing Operations
1-518-949-7598
Aidan.Bouchelle@taconic.com